Murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland

On the morning of 17 December 2018, French hikers discovered the decapitated bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, a 24-year-old Danish woman, and Maren Ueland, a 28-year-old Norwegian woman, near a trail connecting the village of Imlil to Mount Toubkal in Morocco's Atlas Mountains. The two women, both students at the University of South-Eastern Norway studying outdoor recreation and nature guidance, had arrived in Morocco on 9 December 2018 as tourists intending to trek in the region.

Moroccan police arrested a total of 18 men in connection with the murders, later expanding the investigation to additional suspects with alleged links to the group. A suspect, Abderrahmane Khayali, was apprehended the day after the killings after an ID he left in the victims' tent led police to him. Three additional suspects — Abdessamad Ejjoud, Rachid Afatti, and Younes Ouaziad — were arrested on a bus in Marrakesh while in possession of bladed weapons. Investigators said the men had recorded a video the week before the killings pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, and a subsequent video showed several of the suspects swearing allegiance to ISIS while decapitating Jespersen. Moroccan authorities said the men had agreed to carry out a terrorist act against security forces or foreign tourists before traveling to Imlil to target the two women; investigators noted the attackers had camped roughly 600 meters from the victims and that witnesses and CCTV indicated the suspects had followed them. Detectives had initially considered a sexual motive.

A total of 24 people were tried in Salé, near Rabat; 23 of the accused were Moroccan and one was a Swiss-Spanish Muslim convert. Three suspects were charged with murder, and the rest faced various terrorism-related charges. In May 2019, Ejjoud, described as the cell's leader, admitted to killing one of the women. In July 2019, three suspects — Ejjoud, Ouaziad, and Afatti — were sentenced to death. On appeal on 31 October 2019, the anti-terrorism court in Salé upheld the three death sentences and elevated Khayali's sentence from life imprisonment to death, bringing the total sentenced to death to four. Nineteen other defendants had prison sentences of 5 to 30 years upheld, with one sentence increased from 15 to 20 years. The four men sentenced to death were also ordered to pay 190,000 euros to Ueland's parents. These were the first death sentences issued in Morocco since 1993; in practice, no executions have been carried out in Morocco since then.

French authorities sought extradition of the assailants, which Moroccan authorities declined because the crime occurred on Moroccan soil. While awaiting execution, two of the four men sentenced to death died by suicide in prison: Abderrahmane Khayali on 28 February 2023 in Oujda, and Younes Ouaziad on 1 July 2025 in Larache; Ouaziad had reportedly been diagnosed with a mental illness and was under psychiatric care. The victims' remains were flown to Copenhagen on 21 December 2018. Jespersen was buried in Ikast, Denmark, with Denmark's Prime Minister in attendance, and Ueland was buried in Jæren, Norway, attended by Norway's health minister and Morocco's ambassador. Vigils for the victims were held in Norway, Denmark, and at diplomatic missions and locations in Morocco.